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With just fourteen minutes remaining in what can only be described as a merciless demolition of Liverpool by Manchester City, two iconic forwards exited the pitch.
Erling Haaland, representing City, left with the satisfaction of having secured a hat-trick, his sights set firmly on further triumphs in the FA Cup and potentially the Premier League.
In stark contrast, Mo Salah of Liverpool, who has long been a symbol of Anfield glory, departed amid visible distress, his once illustrious journey now seemingly mired in embarrassment. It is a heart-wrenching scene to observe.
As Liverpool’s manager, Arne Slot, grapples with the fallout from such a disastrous season, his future with the club appears uncertain. Salah, alongside captain Virgil van Dijk, was notably subpar in this match. With the Champions League as their only remaining battleground—Liverpool faces PSG on Wednesday—Salah’s farewell tour of English football is in danger of becoming a somber procession.
Whether Salah will feature in Paris remains to be seen. Based on his recent performance, he arguably hasn’t earned that privilege. Early in the game, he squandered a one-on-one opportunity against City’s goalkeeper, James Trafford, resulting in a throw-in for the opposition. Later, with the match beyond Liverpool’s grasp, he sent another clear chance soaring into the stands. The crowning misstep came with a penalty that, perhaps predictably, he failed to convert, with Trafford making the save.
Mohamed Salah’s farewell lap at Liverpool is threatening to turn into something much darker
In the afternoon’s tale of two forwards, Erling Haaland was at his peerless best at the Etihad
By the time he was hauled off by the manager with whom he has not seen eye to eye, it felt like a mercy killing.
City were everything that Liverpool were not here. A team on the move just when it matters. Their opponents merely melted, though.
As soon as City found their way into the game through Haaland’s 37th minute penalty, Liverpool lost all stomach and organisation and that reflects dreadfully on their manager.
Two down by half-time, it was four by the hour. Four goals in 20 minutes and soon they were being lampooned by fans of a club who have grown used to viewing them as their great modern rival. Afterwards Slot didn’t attempt to hide from any it. His team had failed at the very basic tenets of the game – things like running, tackling and blocking – when it really mattered and as such got everything they deserved.
Strange to think that Liverpool had actually been the better team for a while. They moved the ball nicely through midfield early on, creating angles and the occasional overload with their passing and their movement.
Crucially, though, the actual threat they carried at that stage was minimal. That always felt like a significant difference between the teams. City didn’t dominate play in that recognisably metronomic way of theirs but they injected speed and urgency into their football at the right moments and when they did Liverpool couldn’t cope.
Salah’s first big moment of many arrived in just the 15th minute. He was inside his own half when he started the run that invited a clearance over the top from Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and once he had rid himself of the attentions of Abdukodir Khusanov, he only had Trafford to beat.
If manager Arne Slot survives this catastrophic season to manage a third term it will be a shock
But as well as losing form and maybe half a yard of pace this season, Salah has also felt his confidence drain away. Here he never really looked like taking the chance and he screwed his left foot shot so badly across goal that the ball actually went out for a throw-in. Two minutes later, he had the chance to front up Marc Guehi but could only run the ball over the byline.
These struggles were placed in context almost immediately when Haaland drove hard in to the Liverpool half down the left, bumped off two defenders and set in motion to a passage of play that led to Rayan Cherki falling over a Milos Kerkez challenge in the penalty area.
No penalty was given but it could have been. Next time Liverpool were not so fortunate.
Liverpool had another big chance before City enjoyed their golden ten minutes at the end of the first half. This time Salah was more productive but when his cross was laid back by Curtis Jones, Hugo Ekitike could not keep his shot on target when really he should have done.Â
These are the moments that matter on days like this and too often this season Liverpool have been on the wrong side of them. Coincidence and bad luck? It feels like something deeper and fundamental.
For a while it was a really good game but once City scored their first goal, Liverpool collapsed. City were quite ruthless, it must be said. Once they got their noses in front, they sniffed weakness and killed the game as indeed they had against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final a fortnight ago.
The penalty that gave City their opening goal was clear, Van Dijk fouling the excellent Nico O’Reilly. Haaland’s shot – low to Mamardashvili’s left – was perfectly struck.
The Egyptian superstar’s penalty attempt was struck straight to the gloves of James Trafford
Virgil van Dijk was another Liverpool living legend who endured an afternoon to forget
With six or seven minutes left before half-time, Liverpool needed to reset but they couldn’t. The second City goal was the killer and a horror show from Liverpool.
It started with their own throw-in but they simply coughed up the ball and then swung open like an old barn door. Florian Wirtz didn’t track Antoine Semenyo as he ran to the line, Van Dijk’s attempts to get across and block were lamentable and when Haaland moved across Ibrahima Konate to head in the cross there was only one person who was really in that dual.
By now a grisly and inevitable theme was set. Liverpool gave the ball away at their own throw-in again – Joe Gomez the culprit – in the 50th minute and as Semenyo ran off Van Dijk’s shoulder on to Cherki’s pass he was able to lift the ball into the goal.
Three became four before the hour as Haaland rammed his hat-trick in off the bar. His had been a display of beautifully simple goalscoring. Salah, meanwhile, could only continue his own journey down the road to some kind of personal hell.
One good chance was ballooned high and wide and then another – a penalty after Matheus Nunes fouled Ekitike – was struck weakly and saved comfortably by Trafford. When Slot made a raft of substitutions soon after, we presumed Salah’s number would be called. Strangely, it wasn’t. And so his own discomfort was allowed to endure.
Finally, with 14 minutes left, he made way for Federico Chiesa. When will we see him again? If it’s in Paris on Wednesday that will say much for Liverpool’s lack of alternatives and indeed their hope.